1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to page holders and book supporting devices and, more particularly, to a novel page holder and book holder having means for forcibly separating the pages of a book as well as for supporting when the book is open.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, page holding devices have been employed when a person reading a book desires to lay the book down with assurance that the open pages will not become turned over so that the reader loses his place. Such an event could readily happen when a person is reading while sitting out-of-doors where a breeze could easily blow over some of the pages of the book. Another occasion is present in the case of cook books. Both hands of the cook must be used for following the various cooking procedures while the selected page of the book must be maintained open. Also, unless a book has been opened and closed repeatedly through extensive use, the book binding generally is self-biasing so that the pages of the book will have a tendency to close or turn over when the book covers are separated. This situation occurs quite commonly when the books are new and the book binding relatively fresh and somewhat rigid.
Attempts have been made to provide a combined page holder and book support. However, conventional page holders tend to incorporate a plurality of parts such as springs, fasteners, levers and the like, which are not only bulky but which extend beyond the perimeter of the book so as to be cumbersome and awkward. Furthermore, many of the prior art devices include parts with rough edges or sharp corners that have a tendency to damage, cut or obscure the printing on the pages intended to be separated.
Another problem resides in storage of bulky book supporting and holding devices. In order to support a book, a substantial base and back support must be provided which is generally tall and wide which is a difficult construction to carry from place to place or to store in a relatively limited storage place.
Therefore, a need has long existed to provide a simple page holder and book support which is economical to manufacture and assemble and which will not damage either the pages of the book or deface or obscure the printing thereon and which is easy to carry about or to store.